How to Convince Parents to allow Dreads? Any Ideas?

Hey guys :D,
I've been in love with dreads for almost 3 years now and want them superrrrbadly! Except my parents are completely against them and think they are "unhealthy" (<--- i know...haha *shakes head*), "dirty, unattractive" and pretty much every other WRONG stereotype there is out there. Another reason wich really isnt helping is that my hair is super long & straight and blonde and everyone is always telling them how 'pretty' (read: boring) my hair is. I'm in yr 12 and my school allows them so there is no problem there, i just need help in convincing my parents, particularly my mother!

Any ideas!? All help much appreciated, or any similar experiences please share!
Thanks! =Dxo
updated by @bananarama: 02/14/15 06:26:58AM

show them pictures of attractive dreads, while having a serious set down talk about it.give them the facts and a good reason why you want them. parents can be tough, how long have you been trying to convince them?they may think you are just going through a fase and will get over it sooner or later. unfortuantly some people will always hate dreads. that is their own oppinion..im not telling you to not obey your parents or isrespect them in anyway . but if you really want them wait until you are out of highschool out of the house then get em.

I completely agree with Chels! I did this with my parents....first i told them i was doing it, (because we decided long ago when i gauged my ears and peirced my lip that it was my body and i do with my body what i please) but i didnt want my parents completely resenting me because i had em and they had the same mindset as your parents, So i made a collage on my computerof BEAUTIFUL dreadlocks and then explained to my mamma how UNdirty they are and read her a lil bit of the dreaducation page, and then shared with her my spiritual reasoning for getting dreads. She was still a little iffy about em but agreed to stop making rude remarks and blabbing to my family like it was a big deal. I got em and she and the rest of my family absolutely love em! I told them they would

I would just askyour parentsto check out this website. And to read more about what natural dreadlocks are so that they know that all of the stereotypes do not apply to a lot of people who wear dreads. Ifyour parentsare able to seehow you care for them and how low maintenance they are and to see photos of others here then they'll know that there is nothing to be concerned about. Education is the key to understanding!

I hope this helps! :-]

argh i just wrote out a real long thing and someone knocked over my keyboard and i lost it all

ok to start over

dear mom and dad

you probably are aware of certain stereotypes surrpunding dreadlocks however you probably also know stereotypes are often untrue. you yourself have a baclkground perhaps your polish/german/irish/jewish so does that make you stupid evil drunk and greedy?

lets examine the sterotypes and realities.

dreads are dirty

the truth is in order fior hair to dread right it needs to be clean, but not only vclean but free of residues and products that actualy cause hair to be dirtier ..nothing sticky should go in dreads so nio dirt gets stuck to the hair

the sterotype came aboyt 10 years ago when certain companies pushed the idea of "instant sdreads" using wax, and some thought dreads needed to be sticky but hated wax so chose alternativesz like eggs or honey even toothopaste ..these are not the right ways to dread! and yea that kind of dread is dirty but tends to be cut soon after dreading they dont last long.

proper dreads should always be kept clean and smelling good.

dreads are for the homeless only

the truth here is although some hiomeless dont own a comb so get dreads , throughout history dreads were a sign of the elite pharoes and kings, preists and philosophers

king tuts dreads survived 50,000 years as a mummy egyption statures often depict dreads on the ruling class

in the bible the holiest of the holy war dreads joseph, john the baptist samson and many believe jesus himself belonged to a group called the nazarites that took the nazarine vow and grew dreads. its said only the nazarites can speak directly to the devine and are worthy to enter heaven.

dreads are a sign of dedication the most devout of virtualy every religion wear dreads. hindou jew christian muslim buddhist alike.

dreads are unhealthy

the reality being heyy are healythy for the hair nbut more so for the person. dreads give confidence strength and devotion. they have cured depression self ghatred self image and body image issues like anorexia dreads make yiu feel more whole more natural more in control.

dreads will prevent u from getting a job

the reaklity is you might find 1 or 2 jobs who care (but in most cases this is ilegal because dreads have religios and spiritual connections)

but most jobs dont care in fact in our community of 5,000 we have 1 rocket scientist, 3-5 preists/ministers 12 or more teachers 10 or more with phds (or soon to have) 3-5 professors dozens of nurses 5-8 doctors 3-5 law clerks 10 or more busines owners dozens in food services dozens of artists

many working in offices

a cop

you name it

dreads do not limmit you only the limmited mind of a shalow boss might but thats rare

dreads are looked down on

its true some close minded individualds are biased but the vast magority respect and admire dreads in fact you can hardly go our without someone yelling nice dreads from a block away

dreads get u massive respect and admiration from most peoole but some do descriminate

those are not worth knowing hey judge on appearance only and are not the type people you want to know anyway

drugs and dreads

its true dreads have become associated with marijuana use because of the ridse of reggae music in the 70's but lets look at this more closely

the rastas ..some of them use marijuana as a religios sacriment marijuana being an herb not drug they do not togch any true drugs they do not take medicines they do not tpuch alcahol tobaco or even sugar

they are purists about what enters theyre bodies will not cook in aluminin poyts or eat anything that has any chemical additives at all. however they smoke herb and are peresecuted for it sso are very vocal about theyre religios rights to smoke it. only 1/2 of rastas smoke just like almost 1/2 of everyone on earth does so its not more likely a dread will smoke weed jyst more likely they will admit it. however it is more likely they wont drink, or do drugs like coke meth or heroin.

letting your child dread and supporting them will go a long way to building a closer relationship more trust and respect.

your child will dread someday these urges never go away its best you let them now rather then later

we have dozens of grandparents who wanted to dread since age 6-16 and always felt they had to but never could till in their 60's

they never felt truly themselves untill they did

encourage and support your child in becomming themselves early so they dot go through life feeling less alive.

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I would maybe involve them in the decision about which method to use as well. Like the pros and cons of natural vs. putting them in. I'm just thinking about my mom, she was really shocked and kinda offended that I didn't talk to her about it beforejust showing up with dreads. And I'm turning 30 this year so some things never change! However now that I'm "going natural" she seems more comfortable with a slower evolution. She thinks this will give me time to change my mind or become impatient or doesn't think my hair will dread on it's own, butfor whatever reason itgives her hope and is less of a shock. She said the same thing to me "but you have beautiful hair!" and I wouldn't disagree with her (she gave birth to you, she thinks you're perfect just the way you are), like I wouldn't tell her you think your hair is "boring" but rather that youagree your hair is wonderfuland you think it would look awesome dreaded. Rolling with resistance instead of confronting it head on is a pretty good strategy when you are trying to get someone on your side. Hope this helps, and good luck!

LEGENDS! You guys areflippin amazing! thankyou, so so so much! I'm going to show them this site, and i will make a collection of beautiful dread pictures (thankyou chels for the idea!) Brandy and trina, awesome idea! and ElaurenG, i think my mum is exactly the same as yours, so il definately give it a go, and im going to do it natural, and i have pletny of pros for that!!
SoaringEagle- Whoa :D This will defs win my parentsover for sure! Thanks for writing it again, and its full of so much eveidence they can't possibly argue against it! and if all else fails, ive come tot he conclusion they cant exactly shave it off if i do it regardless of their point of view..& i quite agree with brandy, its my body, so :P
Thanks guys for all your help! I really appreciate it! :D

welcome babydoll

Bananarama said:

LEGENDS! You guys areflippin amazing! thankyou, so so so much! I'm going to show them this site, and i will make a collection of beautiful dread pictures (thankyou chels for the idea!) Brandy and trina, awesome idea! and ElaurenG, i think my mum is exactly the same as yours, so il definately give it a go, and im going to do it natural, and i have pletny of pros for that!!
SoaringEagle- Whoa :D This will defs win my parentsover for sure! Thanks for writing it again, and its full of so much eveidence they can't possibly argue against it! and if all else fails, ive come tot he conclusion they cant exactly shave it off if i do it regardless of their point of view..& i quite agree with brandy, its my body, so :P
Thanks guys for all your help! I really appreciate it! :D

I had another thought to add to...maybe show them some before and after pics of people once they've taken out their dreads. Show them that it isn't as permanent necessarily like a tattoo, that people can comb and condition out quite a bit of their hair, and a lot go on to have some cute new hairstyles immediately following their dreads. Basically that you're probably not going to have to shave your head at any point. Also you are more than welcome, let us know how it goesand again good luck!

GENIUS! I am definately doing this, thankyou!
ElaurenG said:

I had another thought to add to...maybe show them some before and after pics of people once they've taken out their dreads. Show them that it isn't as permanent necessarily like a tattoo, that people can comb and condition out quite a bit of their hair, and a lot go on to have some cute new hairstyles immediately following their dreads. Basically that you're probably not going to have to shave your head at any point. Also you are more than welcome, let us know how it goesand again good luck!